1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a swab applicator having a swab tip member with an outer flock surface.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,863,654 to B. P. Morane et al. describes a cosmetic applicator which, in one embodiment, can comprise a stick having flock fibers attached to its end by means of a suitable adhesive. The flock fibers are viewed as alternative supporting means for a cosmetic with either woven or non-woven cotton fibers being described as an alternative supporting medium (see Col. 1, lines 41-50). Clearly, this patent does not show or suggest the conjunctive use of a swab tip and a flock surface.
Swab applicators comprising a support stick carrying at least one swab tip are well known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,871,375 to R. A. Bennett illustrates a double-ended swab formed of resilient polymer foam material which terminates in soft, porous, ellipsoidal ends with open cavities. U.S. Pat. No. 3,586,380 to G. Alibeckoff illustrates a swab comprising a stick having a teardrop-shaped non-woven mass of cotton fibers at one end thereof covered by an adherent sheath of regenerated cellulose sponge.
Applicators for cosmetics comprising a support stick terminating in a swab having an outer flock surface are known. Such applicators have a two-piece swab tip member formed by bonding together two pieces of polyurethane foam. The swab tip is somewhat paddle-shaped and has a flock, fibrous outer surface formed by bonding flock fibers adhesively to the paddle-shaped, two piece polyurethane foam swab member. Such applicators have several problems associated with them. The first is their tendency to delaminate by separation of the two pieces of polyurethane foam which formed the nucleus of the swab member. Such applicators are relatively expensive to manufacture since the bonding of the polyurethane foam to form the paddle-shaped swab tip is relatively time consuming. Also, the polyurethane foam which comprises the two-part swab tip is often subject to ultraviolet light degradation.